Syian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, whose al-Qaeda name is Abu Mohammad al-Julani, is being welcomed in Washington Monday where he's meeting President Trump at the White House, which is a first for any Syrian head of state in history.

But just before this, some 100 influential Christian leaders sent a letter to President Trump calling on him to raise the issue of minority rights and protection of Syria's ancient Christian community.

The letter was led by Dede Laugesen, president of Save the Persecuted Christians. The letter, submitted to the White House Friday, highlighted that Trump has made the protection of persecuted Christians in foreign lands like the Middle East and Africa a priority, and that the issue must be pressed firmly with Sharaa. Former member of Trump's cabinet, Dr. Ben Carson, was among those who signed the urgent letter.

The Syrian leader who overthrew longtime secular Baathist President Bashar al-Assad (who fled to Russia) last December has overseen a campaign of mass killings and kidnappings targeting non-Sunnis, including Druze, Alawites, and Christians - particularly along the Syrian coast and in the south.

Sharaa/Jolani's Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, an AQ spin-off) had starting in 2015 cleansed Idlib city of its Christians, and St. Mary Orthodox Church was destroyed and taken over. Chechens and other foreign fighters took over the homes of Christian families as well. It's a disgusting reality that this was all done with the tacit support of the CIA to these radical jihadi groups in the north, for the sake of pursuing regime change in Damascus.

The Christian leaders wrote, "We urge you to address directly the massacre of Christians, Kurds, Druze, and Alawites in Syria, notably in the greater Suwayda area. These religious minorities face ongoing violence, death, displacement, starvation, and water and medical deprivation—all while innocent women and children are held hostage by ISIS terrorists."

Syria Crucified: Stories of Modern Martyrdom in an Ancient Christian Land

"Mr. President, we respectfully request that you secure President al-Sharaa’s commitment to opening a secure humanitarian corridor from Hader to Suwayda in southern Syria. This corridor will enable safe and secure aid delivery and civilian evacuation, signaling the new government’s commitment to minority rights and stability," the letter stated.

Conservative commentator Laura Loomer, who has in the recent past demonstrated a significant degree of influence at the Trump White House, speaks bluntly in a fresh social media post while addressing Trump:

As I have reported, under Julani’s direction as the new President of Syria, he and his militant jihadist forces have been massacring religious minorities and he has blocked a humanitarian corridor from being opened between Israel and Syria in the Golan Heights for the sake of delivering emergency and life saving aid to the persecuted religious minorities. Julani is an ISIS terrorist.

If President Trump is going to normalize him on US soil at the White House of all places, he must demand that Julani stop killing religious minorities.

I spent the entire week in Israel and on the Syrian border speaking with members of the Druze community in Majdal Shams, who told me how they and their families have been negatively impacted by Julani’s Islamic terrorism.

It wasn't long ago that Sharaa had a $10 million US bounty on his head, but his terrorism designation has recently been removed, also to facilitate his travel to the United States. This was also the case with his foreign minister Asaad al-Shaibani, literally a founder of al-Qaeda in Syria.

Already, since Jolani came to power at least dozens of primarily Orthodox Christians have been slaughtered, including a bombing of a historic Damascus church which killed 25 and wounded over 60 more in June.

The fruits of CIA's Timber Sycamore program:

Another irony is that these "former" terrorists are being hosted in the White House a mere day before Veteran's Day, and Jolani had even been at one point an emissary of the Islamic State's top leader. These are ISI (Islamic State in Iraq) militants who at one point were fighting and killing American soldiers.